


Come Morning Light

by AeonTheDimensionalGirl



Series: I’ve Got You (You’re Safe Now) [12]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF Merlin (Merlin), Canon Era, Caring Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Deviates From Canon, Getting Together, Hurt Merlin (Merlin), Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Torture, King Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), M/M, Magic Revealed, Non-Graphic Violence, Protective Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Scared Merlin (Merlin), Season/Series 04, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:55:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26963269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AeonTheDimensionalGirl/pseuds/AeonTheDimensionalGirl
Summary: Merlin did suppose it was only a matter of time before someone with good coin paid to get him tortured and killed.
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur, Merlin/Arthur Pendragon, Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Series: I’ve Got You (You’re Safe Now) [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1939345
Comments: 30
Kudos: 849





	Come Morning Light

**Author's Note:**

> **PROMPT No 12. I THINK I’VE BROKEN SOMETHING**  
>  Broken Down | **Broken Bones** | Broken Trust

It’s no hidden secret that Merlin hates tournaments with a dying passion.

Sure, he doesn’t really like violence, and despite having to always attend he could try to find a silver lining while at it, like taking advantage to hone his training as a physician when treating the inevitable injuries or watching Arthur perform greatly in all the categories- but _unfortunately_ that is not the point.

The reason Merlin hates tournaments is because someone is always (well, most of the time) trying to kill Arthur.

“ _Mer_ lin, you’re overreacting” Arthur had a look of bemusement in his face as he watched the warlock pace back and forth in front of the fireplace after he finished telling the blond why he shouldn’t participate now that he was King, “It’s just a simple tourney that my Uncle is organizing for my name-day, the security is tight as always so I doubt someone is going to try something”

Merlin gaped at him before glaring. Of course the prat would think that!

“I’m serious” he hissed, “Arthur, I have a bad feeling about this-”

“When don’t you?”

“And when have I’ve been wrong?” he challenged, tilting his chin up and crossing his arms. Arthur pursed his lips and looked away.

Merlin - 1. Arthur - 0

“Is this about my Uncle asking me to participate, Merlin?” the blond finally asked in a soft voice.

Now it was Merlin who looked away to purse his lips.

He didn’t want to say yes, but- yes.

The tournament was being thrown in Arthur’s honor. By Camelot’s culture, the man of honor did not take part in the games, instead stayed in the royal box as a watcher, to lay comfortable with food and wine while taking favorites.

Agravaine had insisted that his nephew participate, going as far to bring forth a champion of his own that was twice the size of Sir Percival to pressure Arthur into taking his request by making the blond feel guilty to refuse to fight his Uncle’s champion.

And since Merlin did not trust Agravaine, he didn’t trust Sir Osian either. The man had an uneasy aura around him that even the warlock’s magic felt wary- and really, that was enough of a signal in Merlin’s book.

“I just want you to be safe, Arthur” he finally whispered. The King sighed.

“I know” he said, giving the raven a small smile, “If it makes you feel any better… I don’t plan on losing to my Uncle’s champion” he winced before adding, “Perhaps I should spar with Percival in order to prepare for him”

“Arthur, that is not my point” Merlin deadpanned.

“ _Mer_ lin, I know you’re worried, but really, this is becoming ridiculous” Arthur said with exasperation in his voice, “I know that you don’t really like Agravaine, but to be completely mistrustful even of his guest? You’re better than that”

Merlin glared, throwing his hands into the air.

“Fine!” he exclaimed, “But when you end up lifeless, I’ll find a way to consort with the dead so I can say _‘I told you so’_!”

“Or maybe I’ll just end with a superficial wound” Arthur drawled as he got up and walked towards the raven, “It will be fine” he stressed.

Merlin honestly wished he had that amount of positivity left in him. Huffing, he turned heal and walked towards the door before he decided that Arthur looked more attractive as a toad.

“Mer- I haven’t dismissed you!”

“I’m quite aware of that, _Sire_ ”

“… You’ll still help me with my armor on the morrow, right?”

_‘Are you mad at me?’_

Despite his annoyance, Merlin couldn’t help but smile softly at the tone in Arthur’s voice before turning around.

His King looked delicate in the firelight and far younger than he was, standing a little unsure in the middle of his bedchamber.

_‘I’m irritated at your stubbornness’_

“Well I certainly have no intention of letting George do it” the raven replied. Arthur chuckled.

“Goodnight, Merlin”

“Goodnight, Arthur”

Closing the door softly behind him and nodding at the guards on duty, Merlin went on his way home, humming under his breath and mentally wondering if he should try that impenetrable metal spell as a just in case-

“Hello” he heard being whispered at his ear.

And before Merlin could even turn around to face the person, his left arm was held on the strongest and most painful grip ever known to man- he even swears to hear his bone crack-at the same time a vile liquid was shoved down his throat, mouth immediately covered to prevent him from spitting it out-

A sting on the back of his head- and Merlin knew no more.

* * *

Merlin wakes up in pain.

Actually, that’s not right.

Merlin wakes up in _agony_.

First of all, numbly, he realizes that he can’t feel his left arm, and a rational part of him is quietly informing him that it’s more likely broken.

And second, he can’t feel his magic well; he knows it’s there, he can feel it buzzing in a muted frenetic beat, but he tries to access it and feels horribly dizzy by simply trying and instead of spells what only comes out of him it’s a whimper-

“Well then, you’re awake”

Merlin tenses before raising his head to the best of his ability in an attempt to locate the voice in the dark-

And sighs.

Sir Osian stares down at him, holding a torch and smiling grimly at the raven.

As much as Merlin wants to say something like, _‘What an unexpected surprise!’_ or an _‘I knew it!’_ , what comes out instead is-

“What- what did you do to me?” he weakly demands to know.

“Isn’t it obvious?” his captor sounds amused. Merlin wants to kick him in the testicles.

“Enlighten me, you see, I’m told quite frequently that I’m an idiot”

“Broke your arm” Osian said with a nonchalant shrug.

“I noticed” Merlin hissed to his best ability, “I’m talking about whatever the fuck is that you threw down my throat against my will”

“Oh, that” his captor smiled, “A little drug that enhances pain and renders one weak as a new born foal” he cackled, “I take that you like it?”

“Splendidly” Merlin answered dryly before frowning, “Answer me something else, would you? Why me? I’m just a servant”

_‘I thought you’d be after Arthur’_ is what he really wants to ask, but the raven has the bad feeling the King’s head is also on the table.

“Oh, I was paid to get rid of you first actually” he revealed with eyes full of mirth, confirming Merlin’s fears, “And let me tell you, you must be the bane of my employers existence, ‘cause it was a good damn amount of coin” Osian laughed again.

“Well then” the warlock shakily raised his good hand, “You’ve got me” he deadpanned, trying his best to hide how terrified he actually felt.

“Oh, I won’t make it quick” his captor said, “I’m on a schedule here, you see” he began to tell, advancing towards the raven while cracking his knuckles, “First, I’m gonna cause you pain, then I’ll defeat the boy King, then I’ll cause you pain again and again ti’l your bones are popping out of your flesh-” he kneeled in front of Merlin, “Then I’ll kill you, and let your King find you. And then I’ll kill him”

Merlin glared.

“You won’t get away with this” he hissed.

Osian smirked darkly.

“I was hoping you’d said that”

* * *

By the time Osian has left, Merlin fears he’s broken more bones than just his left arm.

The drug in his system does as his torturer told him it would do; if he thought that the pain of his broken arm was agony, then he was clearly mistaken, because he now felt as he’d been dragged through all seven hells, back and forth.

To make things worse, Merlin can feel his magic trying to help him, but it feels like it’s out of reach-

Trying to hold off his cries of pain, the raven weakly attempts to get a look at his surroundings.

A cave.

And not one with something as specific markings or stone to at least give him a clue to his location. No. The cave is completely ordinary.

He doesn’t have a fucking clue to where he is.

Numbly, Merlin wonders how much time has passed since his abduction. Would Arthur be looking for him? The Knights? He hopes so.

He doesn’t want to die alone.

He also prays for his King to win against Osian, in part to be petty, but also because, well. He always wants Arthur to win.

“Please find me” he whispered as the effects of the drug began acting harder and he began heaving and sobbing as black spots took over his vision, “Please- Arthur- find me”

Before he lost consciousness, Merlin swore that he saw a glimmer of blue light in his line of vision while his magic soothed him to sleep.

* * *

_“Merlin?”_

The echoing voice wakes him slowly.

_“Merlin?”_

Hang on.

Merlin knows that voice.

“Arthur?” he weakly calls, slightly unsure. He could be hallucinating from the pain-

_“Merlin?!”_

The raven cried out in relief.

“Arthur!” he yelled, not caring for the soreness in his voice, “Arthur! I’m here!”

And finally- a figure came into the cave, holding a torch-

“Merlin?!”

Despite his debilitated state, the raven managed to sit up and laugh in happiness as he witnessed the blond drop the torch in slight shock at seeing him.

“Arthur!” he exclaimed once again while hope bloomed in his chest as his King came further into the room, drawing his sword just in case-

The warlock cried out as his broken arm was jostled at the same time he was pushed upwards by a now familiar hand on his hair.

“I wouldn’t come near him if I were you” Osian growled with a dark voice as he positioned his hand over Merlin’s left clavicle and clasped it firmly, “He’s frail, like glass”

The raven tried to fight him off, but the combination of the pain and drug was still making his movements appear sluggish.

Arthur glared, but nonetheless took a step back-

And Osian pressed onto Merlin’s shoulder, hard.

Something cracked.

Merlin screamed in anguish as he felt a bigger ache than the one on his arm run through his left collarbone enough to cause him to black out.

When he came to, there was a stale smell of vomit in the air, his breaths came out uneven, and Osain had him held up by gripping his neck from behind alongside his good arm.

Arthur looked horrified.

“One more step and the next thing to break it’s his neck” Osain said, gripping the back of the raven’s head tightly enough to make him choke and see more black spots across his vision.

And despite so, Merlin still saw the figure lurking behind his distressed King.

“Ar- Be-”

It was a testament to their bond how the blond immediately understood the slurred words from the badly injured warlock. Arthur turned around just in time to block an attack from-

Well, would you look at that.

Merlin did have a reason to not trust Agravaine from the beginning!

The slimy, fucking weasel-

Wait. That was an insult to weasels.

The slimy fucking cockroach!

“Uncle?”

Merlin, despite the pain he was going through, felt his heart break at Arthur’s confused voice. He knew where this was going to lead.

“What- I don’t-”

Agravaine laughed with cruelty.

The warlock wanted to hit him.

“Don’t tell me you’re honestly that stupid, Arthur” the traitor said with amusement, “I know Morgana said that you’re a fool, but dear me, this is too good. Although, I do suppose I had you well played by pretending to be here for family”

“… You kidnapped Merlin to lure me out, didn’t you?” Arthur asked in a monotone voice.

“I kidnapped the boy with the plan to kill him for being an annoyance” Agravaine replied, “Admittedly, this was not the original plan, but when you insisted on not attending the tourney and looking for your servant- well, I’ve always known how to improvise. Killing two birds with one stone will make your sister quite happy”

And with that being said, Osian dropped the warlock to the ground, ignoring the cry of pain Merlin gave and instead kicking him hard enough to leave him feeling breathless-

Heaving from the ache of his injuries, the raven managed to slightly uncurl from his fetal position in time to see Osian charged at the King with a dagger at the same time Agravaine drew out his own sword and began battling Arthur.

Weakly, with shaking knees and feeling his magic buzzing to the defense despite the drug in his blood, Merlin stood up, ready to something incredibly stupid but enough to give Arthur an opening-

And then he blinked, and saw Agravaine and Osian lying on the floor, unmoving, while Arthur is standing wide eyed and no longer in danger and just then-

The adrenaline immediately abandons Merlin.

He staggers on his feet, the searing pain on his left arm and shoulder that he’s been trying to ignore slamming back with the force of a thousand horses, and it hurts so much that for a moment he forgets how to breathe and there’s a ringing in his ears and-

Someone takes hold of him by his right arm.

_Arthur._

Arthur, who is staring at with him shock and- is that betrayal in his face? He says something, but it sounds underwater and so far away and-

Why is his King looking like a blur?

“I’m so- I- I’m sorry- I was b-born- I’m so-” Merlin doesn’t know why he is saying that between heavy pants as tears fall without his consent. Maybe he’s become delirious because of the throbbing ache in his body-?

His disoriented thoughts are cut off with a cry of pain when his knees give out and he feels himself be slammed against something metallic. Faintly, the raven feels as if he was being held by someone, but he can’t see who it is-

“I’m sorry” he continues to whisper as he feels the darkness begin to take over, “A- Arthur- I’m-”

Merlin’s strength leaves him.

* * *

_“-ke up”_

_“-on’t die-”_

_“-lin please-”_

_“-tay with m-”_

_“Bad- broke-”_

_“Save hi-”_

_“Sir-”_

_“-gic!”_

_“Merlin-”_

* * *

He wakes in a bright blurry room.

Confused and disoriented thanks to the throbbing ache in his body, Merlin faintly yet slowly manages to recognize the room as his own.

He’s back in Camelot and- hang on- is it him or is he lying on soft furs-?

“You shouldn’t move”

And yet Merlin does so by startling in surprise.

Blinking a bit more, he recognizes the man sitting next to his bed, his golden hair haloed by the sun.

“’R’hur?” he croaks, wincing at how dried his throat feels, “W-What happened?”

Arthur, who was in the process of handling him a cup of water, froze.

“You-” the raven frowned slightly at the blond’s look of shock, “You don’t remember?” he slowly asked as he helped Merlin drink the water by holding the base of the cup.

“I- I remember… pain, and- you coming after me… and-” Merlin frowned, trying hard to remember what came next.

He has the feeling it was important.

“…Someone tried to kill you?” he added, feeling uncertain. Arthur nodded, expression blank.

“And then?”

“I don’t know” Merlin whispered, feeling his eyes sting as he began to panic. He knew that it was something significant, why couldn’t he remember it?!

“-LIN! MERLIN!”

Arthur’s own panicked voice draws him back.

The King is holding his face between his hands, pressing their foreheads together as he begins murmuring “It’s alright, shh, it’s alright”, giving Merlin something to focus on as his magic runs wild around the room-

The warlock gasped in horror.

“Oh- gods” he cries at the same time he tries to shove Arthur off him-

He has to get out-

“Merlin- Merlin, please calm down, you’re not in danger-!”

Shaking, the blond’s words finally registered in the warlock’s brain.

“How-?” he whispers, “Why- why aren’t you-”

“Arresting you?”

Merlin gave him a jerky nod.

“Answer me this first” Arthur said, sapphire eyes bright, “You really don’t remember what happened after I got attacked?”

“I swear on my mother’s life that I don’t” Merlin said, but starting to have an inkling.

Arthur let out a shaky breath before surprising him by taking the raven’s hands on his own.

“Osian was about to land a surprise stab on my back when you just- screamed ‘NO!’ and- your eyes shone gold and they just- went flying before hitting the walls and not moving” Arthur explained in a gentle voice, “And then- Merlin, I wanted to feel betrayed, but then you- you fucking scared me” he choked out, “You collapsed because of your injuries- and while at it you kept apologizing and saying that you were born like this and then- then you just- lost consciousness in my arms”

_Oh._

So Merlin hadn’t been delirious.

“I took you here as fast as I could- and I asked Gaius to heal you” Arthur revealed.

Merlin gaped.

The way the King phrased it-

“With- with magic?” he asked tentatively. The blond nodded.

“That bad?”

“Just your arm” Arthur admitted, jerking his head to Merlin’s left side, which was completely covered in tight bandages, “He’d warned me that it’s been a while, but he managed to reset your bone and heal it. He told me you should only feel numbness for a few days. As for your collarbone-”

“He didn’t touch it” Merlin guessed. No wonder he felt like he couldn’t move, and no wonder why the bandages were tight.

“Indeed” Arthur rubbed the back of his hand, and Merlin fought the urge to blush, “He said it wasn’t that bad and that you were lucky with the break”

“Didn’t feel lucky” Merlin mumbled, wincing as he turned his head, “So, what changed your mind about sorcery being evil?”

Arthur’s flinch nearly made him feel bad for asking.

“Mostly you” the blond admitted in a small voice, “I began to remember things that didn’t make sense- and Gaius explained to me a lot of them. How you let me take credit for your actions, how you saved my ungrateful arse half the time-”

“More than that” Merlin quipped, earning a glare.

“And- also, the guiding light”

Merlin blinked.

“Pardon?”

Arthur looked at him exasperated.

“You know, the guiding light you sent” he said, “Bluish, looks like an orb?”

_Oh._

“I- I don’t really remember doing that either” Merlin admitted as he flushed, “I think it’s only something I do when you need my help and I’m indisposed. Gaius told me I did it back when-”

“You drank the poisoned chalice” Arthur finished softly for him, “You saved my life”

“I tend to do that, yes” Merlin grinned as the King snorted, “Thank you for saving mine” he whispered, feeling shy.

Arthur returned the smile.

“I should be thanking you” he murmured.

And then, he held up Merlin’s hand and placed a gentle kiss on the back of it. The warlock’s breath hitched.

“Thank you”

**Author's Note:**

> I actually conducted a small research for this fic ( ~~although tbh I do it a lot for my other fics~~ ) in order to make Merlin’s injuries realistic, and it turns that you can actually a) Break your collarbone and have it treated without surgery (it depends on the damage though), and b) Suffer memory loss from the combination of adrenaline and stress (anxiety and fear related).


End file.
